Ukraine Seeks Liquidation of UOC Family Affairs Department

KYIV — Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has initiated legal proceedings seeking the liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) Mission Synodal Department for Family Affairs and the transfer of most of its assets to state ownership.

The Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal opened the case on September 22, 2026, following a claim filed by the state service against the religious organization. According to DESS, the lawsuit seeks to terminate the organization and transfer its property, funds, and other assets to the state, with liturgical items excluded from the requested seizure.

The state agency bases its action on the conviction of the department’s former head, Metr. Panteleimon of Lugansk and Alchevsk. A court in Chernihiv sentenced the hierarch in absentia in 2025 to 11 years in prison under Article 111-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, concerning alleged collaboration with an aggressor state. Metr. Panteleimon was not present at the trial and has not publicly responded to the charges.

The Telegram channel First Cossack criticized the proceedings, arguing that authorities are applying a legal provision against an entire religious organization because of the alleged actions of one individual. The channel also cited an earlier case in which a UOC parish in Yarova was dissolved after its rector was convicted.

The latest proceedings are part of broader legal actions by Ukrainian authorities involving UOC religious organizations. The case will determine whether the Family Affairs Department is terminated and its non-liturgical assets transferred to the state.

Previously, the UOJ reported that no UOC parishes were included in DESS’s updated critical organizations list.